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Governing Board Policies

Section B: Board Governance and Operations

Policy Title: Board Meeting Agenda Preparation
Policy Code: BEDBA

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This policy describes the process and timeline for the scheduling of Governing Board meetings and the development of meeting agendas.

The Superintendent and Board President have joint responsibility for the development of Board meeting agendas, in consultation with the Board Agenda Committee.

  1. Scheduling Board meetings. Board meetings are scheduled by vote of the Board. The Board can vote to grant discretion to the Superintendent or Board President to schedule Board meetings, within parameters set by the Board, but this grant cannot extend beyond the end of the calendar year.

    The Superintendent or Board President can schedule an "urgent" Board meeting if Board action is necessary to prevent significant harm to the district, harm which could not be prevented or undone by action at the next previously scheduled Board meeting.

    Any Board member who is unable to attend an urgent meeting can request that an item to undo any measures approved at that meeting be placed on the agenda of the next previously scheduled meeting. Such a written request cannot be denied.

  2. Agenda Committee. The Agenda Committee consists of the Board President, the Board Clerk, and the Superintendent. Any two members constitute a quorum. The Director of Staff Services will attend Agenda Committee meetings.

    The Board President shall schedule meetings of the Agenda Committee, in consultation with the Superintendent. Meetings shall be held in accordance with the requirements of the Open Meeting Law.

    The Agenda Committee is advisory only and has no authority to pass motions or to take legal actions.

  3. Placing items on an agenda. The Superintendent can place or remove staff-initiated items. The Superintendent or the Board President can place Board-initiated items.
  4. Scheduling requirements for Board Agenda Items (BAI). A Board member can initiate an agenda item by submitting a Board Agenda Item (BAI) request to the Board office. The BAI may indicate whether the item is to be considered for information or study or action, and in public or executive session, as appropriate and allowed by law.

    The Board President is responsible for ensuring that a Board member's BAI is placed on the agenda of a meeting which occurs within eight weeks of its submission. The Board office should promptly notify the initiating board member of this assignment.

    The Board member initiating a BAI should be stated on the Board agenda where the item appears. No such identification is necessary for items initiated by the Superintendent.

    The initiating Board member should provide all supporting material to the Board office at least one week before the Board meeting at which the item will appear.

  5. Postponing consideration of a BAI. The eight week deadline for scheduling a BAI can be extended in the following circumstances.
    • The Board member sponsoring the item agrees to such an extension, or agrees to withdraw the BAI entirely, in written communication to the Superintendent or Board President.
    • The eight week deadline would cause the item to be considered at a Board meeting within six months of a meeting at which the Board, in the judgment of the Board President, considered a substantially similar item. In this case, the Board President must advise the sponsoring Board member of this determination.
    • The item requests information from staff, which staff requires additional time to prepare. In this case, the Superintendent must advise the sponsoring Board member and the Board President, in writing, of the need for such postponement.
  6. Alternative of scheduling a Board vote on whether to place a BAI on an agenda. An alternative to placing a BAI on a board agenda is to place on a board agenda an action item to vote on whether to include the BAI on a future board agenda. This option, which can be exercised by either the Superintendent or the Board President, is unavailable if the BAI includes the endorsement of a second Board member.

    The action item must be placed on the agenda of a meeting which is, at the latest, the first Board meeting which is at least one week later than the submission of the BAI.

    The Board member initiating a BAI can also exercise this option, by written request through the Board office, if the BAI itself is not scheduled for any of the reasons listed in Section 5. In that case the action item must be placed on the agenda of a meeting which is, at the latest, the first Board meeting which is at least one week later than the submission of that request.

    If such an action item is placed on an agenda, then the Board member who initiated the BAI may submit to the Board office a brief description of the BAI, to accompany the agenda item. Public discussion of the action item (to place the BAI on a future Board agenda) must be limited to a brief description of the BAI (e.g. reading the agenda description into the record) and discussion of the merits of placing it on a future Board agenda; the discussion should not include the merits of the BAI itself. A motion to place the BAI onto the agenda of a future meeting can contain stipulations about the date of that meeting.

  7. Removing a BAI. After a BAI, which is initiated by a Board member, is scheduled for a specific Board meeting, it can be removed from that agenda only with the written permission of that Board member.
  8. Unavailability of the Board President. The Board President can, by written communication to the Board office, temporarily delegate the powers described in this policy to the Board Clerk. Alternatively, the Board Clerk can exercise those powers if the President is unavailable or if this is necessary to ensure that the deadlines in this policy are met.
  9. Agenda items initiated by the Superintendent.
    • The Superintendent will develop and distribute the Submission Schedule for agenda items for meeting dates approved by the Governing Board.
    • All agenda items with accompanying back-up materials will be submitted by the Superintendent to the Board Office no later than the close of business four (4) business days prior to the scheduled meeting, with the exceptions allowed by law. No item will be placed on an agenda without accompanying back-up material at the time of submission. Revisions to agenda items must be submitted to the Board Office no later than 9:00 a.m. the day before a scheduled board meeting. Holidays will affect all deadlines.
    • Schools and departments who originate agenda items will be responsible for notifying all parties involved that their respective agenda item is scheduled for a specific board meeting date. This includes getting all approvals prior to submitting the item to the Superintendent.
    • The Superintendent's Office is responsible for maintaining a calendar of future board agenda items and for keeping the Board Office informed.

    The Superintendent's Office will be responsible for holding administrators accountable for following agenda procedures and deadlines.

  10. Future agenda items. At the end of each Board meeting which includes action or study/action items on the agenda, the final agenda item shall be "Future Agenda Items." At this point in the meeting a board member may propose future agenda items, with limited discussion. The discussion should center around the purpose of placing the item on the next most appropriate agenda for consideration and action as necessary. The board may vote to place the proposed agenda item on a future agenda.

    If the board does not adopt such a motion, then the proposal is treated as a BAI submitted as of that date. If the Board member does not promptly submit such a BAI, then the Board office should prepare such a BAI, reflecting the Board member's proposal.

  11. Structure of agendas. Board agendas shall typically include items which fall into the following categories, in the following sequence. Board agendas may, however, contain items in other categories and agenda items need not occur in the sequence listed here.
    • Pledge Of Allegiance
    • Recess to Executive Session
    • Superintendent's Report (first meeting of the month)
    • Board Member Activity Reports (first meeting of the month)
    • Audience Call (first meeting of the month)
    • Public Hearing or Forum
    • Discussion Item(s)
    • Information Item(s)
    • Consent Agenda
    • Action Item(s)
    • Study/Action Item(s)
    • Study Item(s)
    • Governing Board Policies
    • Future Agenda Items

Adopted: January 16, 2007
Revised: February 10, 2009
Review: January 12, 2010 [reviewed; no changes made]
Revised: June 22, 2010
Revised: February 22, 2011
Revised: March 27, 2012

LEGAL REF.: A.R.S. 38-431 Public Meeting and Proceedings

CROSS REF: Policy # BEDB - Board Meeting Agendas

Replaces TUSD Policy # 9300 Governing Board Meetings and Submitting Agenda Items